Collin TFA

Our friend and colleague, Lorena Rodriguez, shared with us her letter of resignation from Collin College, effective this summer.

It is a clear and profound response to the anxious and self-censoring environment that has become the norm at Collin.

It is also a courageous, dignified model of speaking out when circumstances demand it.

We stand in proud solidarity with Prof. Rodriguez, and all who dedicate themselves to upholding the integrity of free thought and free expression in education.
————————————————-

February 29, 2024

Dear Dr. Bzostek-Walker,

I am writing this letter to formally submit my resignation from my position as Economics Professor at Collin College, effective August 31, 2024.

Making this decision has been profoundly difficult. Teaching and engaging with our students have been among the most rewarding aspects of my life, and I have the utmost respect for my immediate supervisors, yourself, and Dr. Gainer. However, the culture within our institution has led me to this juncture, and I believe it is time for me to explore new environments that align more closely with my personal values of academic and personal freedom, and that foster a safe and supportive environment for all employees.

The essence of higher education lies in the freedom to explore and impart knowledge without undue restraint, both within the classroom and in our broader professional lives. Regrettably, I have observed an increasingly restrictive and retaliatory environment at the College over the past few years. This environment has resulted in a troubling inclination toward self-censorship among my peers, driven by a fear of deviating from the administration's preferred ideology as surmised by a history of official statements and employment decisions. My colleagues’ reluctance to voice concerns or engage in open discourse for fear of reprisal or disfavor does not align with my understanding of a nurturing and progressive academic environment.

This environment of fear stifles not only academic freedom in our classrooms, but also encroaches upon our personal liberties. Unfortunately, I have witnessed many instances where College staff felt implicit pressure to refrain from engaging in expressive activities during their personal time, activities that they felt may not align with the administration's preferred ideology. These occurrences have been deeply troubling for me ever since.

In addition, the increase in administrative staff has led to an environment where our academic mission seems overshadowed by bureaucracy and micromanagement, too often accompanied by a lack of transparency and authentic due process. The ever-expanding web of inconsistently applied policies often feels oppressive and counterproductive, detracting from our core mission of teaching, guiding, and inspiring.

The cumulative effect of these issues — the erosion of academic freedom, the encroachment on our personal liberties, and the inconsistent web of administrative requirements — has created a highly toxic working environment and compelled me to reconsider my place within this institution. It is my conviction that without a top-down steadfast commitment to the fundamental principles of academic and personal expression, the essence of our educational mission risks being irrevocably compromised, and our working environment will only deteriorate further.

I am grateful for the opportunity to be part of the Collin College community and cherish the experiences and memories I have gathered for the past 14 years. It is my sincere hope that Collin College leadership will reflect on these challenges and renew its commitment to fostering a truly open and fearless academic environment, unfettered by administrative constraints, where every voice is valued, and all employees are nurtured.

Sincerely,

Lorena Rodriguez

Collin College isn’t the only two-year school in Texas slyly finding ways to fix the system in order to eliminate people they don’t like.

Thankfully, Salvatore Frisella, Paul Day, and Jeff Hughes aren’t taking the shenanigans lying down.

Promised rolling three-year contracts as had been the norm for many years, they found themselves—and the entire Dallas College faculty—knocked down to year-long contracts.

The plaintiffs believe Dallas College enacted the policy change as a punitive measure against faculty who voted “no confidence” in the Chancellor, created a local chapter of the AAUP, and advocated for a faculty Senate.

The outcome and precedent of this case will be meaningful for everyone who works in higher ed in Texas.

*Note: our original post said the plaintiffs had been non-renewed. That is incorrect; they were moved from three-year to single-year contracts.

SALVATORE FRISELLA, PAUL PATRICK DAY, and HOWARD JEFFREY HUGHES v. DALLAS COLLEGE 1-plaintiffs-original-complaintDownload

A lot of people who staff Starbucks’ cafes are our students’ age— often literally our students. They deserve to be treated with respect at their jobs.

“To demonstrate good faith, the company agreed to immediately extend credit-card tipping and raises to union stores. Starbucks had been illegally punishing its union stores by giving only workers at non-union stores raises and access to credit-card tipping. A court ordered it to include union stores, but it had been fighting the ruling.”

Starbucks Workers Win Breakthrough Promise of Real Negotiations The piñata finally burst. Starbucks corporate heads agreed Tuesday to negotiate for real with the union and allow workers to organize. “I was in shock initially, and definitely some disbelief,” said Michelle Eisen, who works at the first Buffalo store that unionized with Starbucks Workers Unite...

Welp, it’s January, which means Collin leadership is culling longtime professors who a) cost too much or b) produce utterances to the left of Mussolini or c) both.

In seriousness, we are sorry to know that yet more established faculty are being weeded out for the usual flimsy reasons. We know firsthand the way it can upend your life.

If you would like to have some insurance against Collin College’s capricious application of policy and its president’s tempestuous whims, you should join a union.

Let’s put it this way: those of us who were fired from Collin and also belonged to a union are now all happily established in other teaching jobs in higher ed. The union provided lawyers and advocates to handle all the paperwork and guide us through whatever path we chose.

The many others Collin let go that you didn’t hear about—and who were not union members—could not afford to finance their own legal protection and were, to the last, forced to go away quietly. (Hence the tradition at the college of people disappearing and, 1984-like, everyone is too scared to mention that they ever knew the poor souls in the first place.)

It’s 2024 and long past time “union” stopped being a dirty word in Texas. Protect yourself.

texasfacultyassociation.org is for full- and part-time faculty in higher ed, as well as staff and retired employees.

Texas Faculty Association The Texas Faculty Association, the statewide higher ed affiliate of TSTA and the National Education Association, will unite, organize, and empower higher education advocates, faculty, and personnel to provide a quality education to every student in higher education in Texas.

According to this suit, Musk fired at least eight SpaceX employees for *circulating a letter* in which they asked everyone to distance themselves from Musk’s problematic Twitter posts. They also asked the company to be more clear about its harassment policies and to fairly enforce them.

In this case, the National Labor Relations Board is heading the case against Musk. ***You may want to be aware that the NLRB, ironically, does NOT cover public employees, such as those who work at state-funded institutions.

So, petty despots everywhere are willing to tank anyone who slights them. What to do? If you’re a public higher ed faculty or staff member in TX, your best option is to join a union. Our website is at Texas Faculty Association dot org.

Don’t wait until the crisis lands to protect yourself from capricious and arbitrary actions from leadership. If they’ve thrown people like you under the bus before, you know they’ll do it again. And the security of knowing you’ll have complete legal support is invaluable.

SpaceX Illegally Fired Workers Critical of Musk, Federal Agency Says (Gift Article) The National Labor Relations Board said the rocket company had wrongly dismissed eight people for a letter raising concerns about the chief executive.

A provocative article—I find the main premise might have merit, though I’m not sure about every claim the author makes.
————

“A cynic could easily argue that the core purpose of the humanities has become to provide the illusion of progressivism to deeply unprogressive institutions, helping them appeal to wealthy liberal students.

Colleges usher in social-justice-warrior faculty through the front door while exploiting workers, piling up student debt, and wooing mega-rich donors in the back. Humanities professors often think we’re critics of academic capitalism and rarely pause to wonder if we’re its unwitting stooges.”

The Humanities Have Sown the Seeds of Their Own Destruction If the humanities have become more political over the past decade, it is the result of pressure to prove that they are “useful.”

I actually received an apple this semester. First one ever! Best gift.

Community members, parents, teachers, students—so many people are unhappy with the extremism of book bans in Texas public schools and libraries.

If you’re tired of feeling like our community is the setting for a dystopian novel (or at least the prologue to one), here is a chance to help.

Putting oneself physically in a place, even silently, has historical precedent for success. Peaceful protest, especially in tandem with other nonviolent strategies can be powerful.

Join us for a silent demonstration of the freedom to read on Tuesday night, 5-7 pm.

2700 W 15th St. Plano, TX

Okay…

“Jurors found that the choice to not renew Phillips’ contract had been motivated by protected speech, but that the school ‘would have made the same decision in the absence of that speech.’”

Professor's Free Speech Lawsuit Delivers Win for Collin College The school had landed on a list of "10 Worst Colleges for Free Speech" for the past three years running.

Guess what? If you teach at Collin College, the administration has an early holiday gift for you.

You see, they understand how difficult it can be to handle a Canvas course all by yourself. Therefore--at least according to three separate reports we've been given firsthand from current faculty--administrators are now joining your Canvas courses and monitoring all your activity. How helpful!

In some cases, they are even messaging your students on your behalf. Isn't that thoughtful of them? Now you have extra time to take a long lunch or even get a mani.

If you want to send a personalized thank-you note to whichever sneaky Secret Santa is trolling around in your course, you can find their name and get an activity report of everything they've done by following these instructions:

https://teaching.pitt.edu/resources/how-to-view-your-course-roster-and-manage-users-in-canvas/